LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Roger Hauck, R-Mt. Pleasant, issued the following statement after the Senate finalized voting on a budget plan for the upcoming fiscal year:
“The state budget has grown over 40% in recent years, and all state taxpayers got under this current budget was more government growth, along with increases in fees and taxes that further pick their pockets while Senate Democrats continue their spending spree.
“It’s been seven years since the governor pledged to fix the roads, and there is still no road funding plan from her office. We were told the only way to do so was to raise taxes and increase fees, despite House Republicans providing an alternative plan that does neither.
“Our student reading and math scores are among the worst in the nation, but the Senate voted to spend $1 million to help ‘underprivileged’ people grow and sell marijuana and nearly $8 million to figure out how to tax people even more based on how many miles they drive — while voting down funding to expand educational resources for Michigan students.
“From paying for vacant office buildings and a bloated bureaucracy that faces limited to no accountability, to hundreds of thousands of residents in the 35th Senate District having no representation during these votes, to no road funding plan or efforts to address our failing education system, this budget falls short in more ways than one.
“I joined a number of my Republican colleagues in introducing numerous amendments to reel in this overspending and address our highest priorities, but they failed to receive even a brief consideration from the narrow Democratic majority.
“I will not support fee increase after fee increase, more wasteful spending and a disregard for our top priorities — especially when this overspending fails to uphold the most basic responsibilities of government. The budget that was put before us for a vote wasn’t a plan, it was a farce that passes more costs onto residents without providing any meaningful value.”
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